K-22

I wish I had this information to tell a crazy parent I had last year. . . Did you know for a teacher to teach all of the national/state standards that are required for Kindergarten through 12th grade it would take 27 years????? No wonder the US is so low on the list of educational achievment! We are trying to teach too many things EVERY YEAR! And we don't have enough time to teach mastery because we have to move on so we can cover all of our standards! Crazy! All of us teachers have known this all along, but the stupid people on the State Board of Education or our NEA or CTA are not doing their jobs to make it any better.

Don't get me started on the NEA or CTA. I have to pay dues to them and then they spend my money telling me to vote for certain candidates for all kinds of different offices. And you should see these leaflets they send out; professional grade color photos and all. Very expensive looking. Thank you for spending my money telling me to vote for someone I don't want to vote for. One of my coleagues even got a text message today telling them to vote for someone in particular! Unbelievable!

Update on life

Oh It's been way too long since I have posted!

I walked in the Avon Walk last weekend with my stress fractured foot. I shouldn't have walked at all, but my goal was to make it 1 mile and I walked 4 before it started to hurt. So Dan picked me up from the beach. I still had an amazing time and signed up to walk again next year! The pictures above are from that. One of me with the Avon Walk blow up thingy that we all sign when we arrive at the Queen Mary at 5:30 AM. (I wish I could put 5:30 in capitals to emphasize how early that is for me.) The second pic is of Connor, Kelsey and I all in our pink shirts.

I am back to school as of August 28th. Yes I said August. CRAZY! It was very odd starting school in August this year, but it will be good to have the entire week off for Thanksgiving. So far the year is going well, except for one kid (there's always one). We'll call him "Mosh Pit". That's how I refer to him to the other teachers. It actually has to do with his real name, but I can't disclose it here. Anyway, he is SOOOO hyper. Never raises his hand, is always talking to me or others, is constantly turned around in his seat, etc. Friday he went home early and I can't stress enough how quiet the room seemed to be. His parents are from another country and I find that foreigners have less of a tendency to get their kids tested for learning disabilities or ADD. Anyone out there have any idea why? I'm not one of those "Medicate them all!" people, but I do find that medication does work for some and has positive effects for many, rather than negative effects for a few.

Here in So Cal we are on "Storm Watch 2007". It has been raining off and on for 2 days (and I do mean raining-like cats and dogs). It's all the news stations can talk about. So Cal is weird that way. Although I can't remember the last time it rained in September. I do love the rain and the cool weather!

One of my favorite things about Fall is the crisp air, so I am so glad it cooled down this week so I got some of that. And Yeah-got to wear some new sweaters! There are a few deciduous trees here in La Verne, so I am looking forward to those beautiful fall colors on some of those trees. We used to have one in front of our FOntana house, but the darn city ripped it out because it started to raise the sidewalk. They left this big bare spot of sand (not dirt) in front of our house and even messed up our brick work. I had to fight them to come out and fix the bricks, but they never replaced the tree. We finally planted grass last week.

Speaking of the Fontana house, our renters are crazy. They have been coming up with the most ridiculous problems and Dan has been out there almost every day for the last two weeks! It has been very wearing. We had to give them some new phone rules because they would call us like 10 times in a row without leaving a message. Or call and leave demanding messages. We are just so fed up with them. But every time we talk to them they tell us how much they love the house and how they want us to extend their lease. We don't get them. Why complain so much if you love it?